There’s a love of simple melody lines too, it’s a relief that these melody lines are obvious, the way Klaus or Thomas Dinger used to present their tunes, as something to be enjoyed.
There’s a love of simple melody lines too, it’s a relief that these melody lines are obvious, the way Klaus or Thomas Dinger used to present their tunes, as something to be enjoyed.
(Installed Worlds)
This is a monumental LP, monumental in the way it sits there, glowering like a rain cloud over hills, not moving; not looking to assert itself but just there and there’s little you can do about it. The listener gets sucked into Cambridge Blue; its simplicity and its disingenuousness are clear, and its cleverness in setting the pace, (despite the LP comprising 8 mid paced electronic instrumentals the record never drags), means you are in for an itch-free listen.
The clever use of tone and the brilliant use of sound is what makes this LP a cut above – listen to the steady, confident build-up of texture on With Piano and the synth pointers on Low Grey Sky. It sounds too simple at times, the opener Aurora’s piano stabs can sound too simple, but they are offset by the stuff that’s going on in the background. Sometimes things are so gentle that some passages can come across as a sort of English Pastoral easy listening – the shimmering Cambridge Blue evokes Inspector Morse soundtrack – but that’s a passing concern. Some tracks overwhelm by their sheer presence, such as Isolator, Interland and the ending of Low Grey Sky.
There’s a love of simple melody lines too, it’s a relief that these melody lines are obvious, the way Klaus or Thomas Dinger used to present their tunes, as something to be enjoyed. Chorus Synth is a beautiful lullaby in thrall to Roy Budd and Rodelius in equal measure (there are bits on this record that are very similar to Lunz) and Above is a spacey gem too. A quiet, but epic record and a very powerful listen, one that might just catch you out.